As wintertime draws near, you’ll want to begin safeguarding your home against rodents. Many pests, like rats and mice, head indoors during chilly temperatures to escape the undesirable elements.
To avoid a rodent infestation this winter, you should try out the best mouse repellents to keep these pests away!
Keep reading to learn more about our favorite products that you can purchase at the store or do yourself at home!
Once indoors, mice can spread waste and contagion around your food and countertops. Responsible for spreading pathogens that cause food poisoning and hantavirus, mice can make you seriously ill.
Pest control methods can eliminate rodents whenever they’re indoors, but there are options you can try to keep them from entering your home or away from your food and kitchen areas.
Check out these three tips to repel mice from your home!
Essential Oil Repellents
Essential oils have many household uses, but did you know these products are also effective for pest control?
Rodents have highly sensitive noses designed to help them find food outside and inside your home. They can sniff out forgotten crumbs and messes that you may not realize you still have in your kitchen!
Because of their sense of smell, highly pungent odors can effectively convince the pests to search for another place to stay.
Peppermint oil produces a pungent scent when utilized in large quantities. While a pleasant smell for us, rodents steer clear of anything seeped in the offending aroma.
To dissuade rodents from bedding down in your attic, basement, bedroom, kitchen, or inside your walls, place cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil around your baseboards, inside holes, or anywhere with signs of mouse activity.
Don’t dilute the scent with water; you’ll need the pure scent to repel rodents completely. Inside a bowl, saturate the cotton balls with your favorite brand of peppermint oil. To avoid mess, you can leave the cotton balls inside the bowl as you place them around your home.
Other essential oils can make the best mouse repellents too. Here are some alternatives you can use if peppermint oil isn’t your scent of choice:
Besides cotton balls, you can also create an essential oil mixture to spray around your affected rooms. Pick an essential oil that you enjoy and add a few drops to a spray bottle filled up with water.
Once thoroughly mixed together, spritz this on your baseboards, cabinets, doorways, or any spaces where you think rodents are common. This should help dissuade mice from hanging around!
These essential oils could be dangerous if you have pets, so avoid this option if you have dogs or cats.
Storebought Sprays and Repellents
If you’re looking for a quick solution, you can find some options on the shelf of your local hardware or gardening store. While these options aren’t guaranteed to eliminate rats and mice (you’ll need traps and bait for that!), they can still help keep them away.
Many sprayable products are designed to work on your baseboards or on the exterior of your home. As the rodents approach the sprayed area, they’ll turn their nose up and head the other way!
These options can keep rodents from entering your home, effectively stopping a pest problem before it even starts. Using smells that rats and mice hate, the sprays should prevent rodents from seeking any areas to hide indoors.
Scent pouches work similarly by utilizing certain smells that rodents despise to keep them at bay. If you’re looking for a hands-off approach, this is one of the best mouse repellents to try.
Home Repair
While this option is more intensive than our other alternatives, repairing holes indoors or in the exterior foundation of your home will keep rodents from crawling inside.
Mice can contort their bodies in exceptional manners, squeezing through holes much smaller than their overall width! Even little crevices could be large enough to accommodate a mouse.
If you have noticeable damage to your home, consider contacting a home repair specialist to assess what repairs you’ll need. Never attempt to make significant repairs to your home without proper instruction. Some spaces are necessary and shouldn’t need filling.
You can always use stucco, caulk, or plaster for minor cracks. Home repair isn’t easy, so always consult a professional if you need help– even with seemingly insignificant repairs.
Check out this helpful guide for advice on at-home wall repairs.
You can directly prevent rodents from coming indoors by filling up holes and crevices. Without enough space to squeeze through, rodents will stay outside, and you won’t have to worry about unsanitary pests throughout the winter.
Are you looking for more tips on rodent control? Check out “The Ultimate Guide to Rodent Control” here!
Only some pest control methods work well. Here’s our list of ineffective rodent repellents and some limitations on our favorite options.
Mothballs
As their name suggests, mothballs are primarily used to prevent moths from eating through your clothing. Clothing moth larvae feast on many items in your closet, ruining your precious threads with unsightly holes!
Mothballs also work well against other pests that eat fibrous materials like silverfish. Place the mothballs in your closet or other storage areas to prevent them from eating through your clothing.
While mothballs are sometimes considered a valuable solution for rodent pest control, we advise against using this method to combat your mouse problem.
These products aren’t proven to be effective against rodents and could unnecessarily expose your children and pets to the pesticide solution. Other alternatives are available and more effective if you're struggling with rodents.
Plus, using mothballs contrary to the label’s instructions isn’t always a good idea! According to the Food and Drug Administration, incorrect use of mothballs for pests not listed on the label or in the wrong locations is illegal.
Always follow the instructions for your pest control product and avoid placing these products in areas not specified. Never use mothballs for animals, pests, or insects not covered by the product’s specified use.
Soundwave Repellents
While these products are often touted as the best mouse repellents, you may need a different solution.
Using high-frequency pitches too high for the human ear, the sounds should, in theory, startle the rodents and convince them to move elsewhere.
Unless you know the exact location of your rodent infestation, these products won’t help repel mice. Plus, there isn’t a guarantee that these repellents work in the first place!
Instead of wasting money on things that might not work, choose proven pest control methods that are guaranteed to remove your rodent infestation.
Limitations of Rodent Repellents
While our above options are great for keeping rodents away, they aren’t foolproof. Even if you utilize these DIY methods, there’s still a chance mice can sneak indoors and populate your pantry.
Some of the offensive-smelling alternatives won’t work for certain mice species. Plus, the rodents in your home may become immune to the strong scents, rendering your pest control option useless!
Trust Zunex Pest Control to lend a hand when you want effective rodent control! Repelling mice isn’t easy, but with Zunex’s rodent pest control, you can stay on top of pests no matter the season.
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